NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

Members of the public queue outside Brown in Dublin for its post-Christmas sale Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

• Gardaí arrested 15 motorists on suspicion of drink-driving on Christmas night.
• Five people were also arrested as part of an operation to crack down on the use of scrambler and quad bikes.
• President Michael D Higgins signed a bill into law to increase the age of retirement for public servants to 70.
• Shoppers queued from early morning to attend annual Stephen’s Day sales across the country.
• A man was stabbed in the neck in an assault in Belfast on Christmas Day.
• It emerged that the firm behind Copper Face Jacks made profits of over €75 million last year.
• €1.7m in funding for groups that support victims of crime was announced by the Government.

INTERNATIONAL

Debris in front of a heavily damaged church in Sicily, Italy, following an earthquake triggered by Italy's Mount Etna. AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

#ITALY: Four people were injured after a 4.8-magnitude earthquake hit the area around Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna.

#FRANCE: Two people were arrested after they sparked panic by holding imitation ‘airsoft’ guns at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport. 

#WHALING: Japan announced its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission and said it will resume commercial whaling next year.

PARTING SHOT

European news network Euronews has produced thousands of articles this year, covering breaking and feature news stories from around the world.

Today, the company published its favourite stories from the past 12 months, including a controversial interview with former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, a WhatsApp interview with a Syrian migrant in Lesbos, and an in-depth look at Italian scepticism towards vaccines.

You can read the 14 stories the network has chosen to round up its year here.